Ishita Pai Raikar: Building a Community

Featured: Learn more about Ishita Pai Raikar – speaker, leader, entrepreneur and Fall 2025 graduate

Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? When did you realize you wanted to study ECE? 

My story begins long before I ever touched a circuit or wrote a line of code. I grew up across India, Singapore and eventually the United States, moving between cultures and constantly rebuilding my sense of home. Together, these places formed my worldview long before I imagined becoming an engineer. They helped me see that technology is not simply a tool. It is something deeply human. It interacts with language, habits, culture, trust and emotion. With a mother who danced for passion and a father who performed for joy, I grew up surrounded by creativity, discipline, and connection. Dance taught me structure; performance taught me empathy.

I did not always plan to study ECE. I actually expected to go into business. But during my junior and senior years of high school, AI was booming and my parents gave me a piece of advice that completely shifted my path. They told me to build the strongest technical foundation I could, because understanding the world at a fundamental level would give me the freedom to create anything later. That guidance opened my eyes to engineering as a way to create possibilities instead of only managing them. 

ECE attracted me for its versatility. It sits at the intersection of hardware, software, intelligence and systems. It is foundational. It is creative. It is challenging. And once I began my coursework at NC State, I realized that ECE does not only explain how things work. It explains how the world works. How signals move, how systems break, how ideas become real. That realization became the backbone of every academic decision I made afterward. 

What drew you to NC State for your undergraduate degree? 

I chose NC State because it felt like a place where growth is not only possible, but expected. I wanted a university where I could stretch myself, try new things and meet mentors who cared. I knew I wanted to explore research early, dive into entrepreneurship, build real projects and find leadership environments that aligned with my values. NC State made all of that accessible. The more I learned about the university, the more I realized it encouraged students to be interdisciplinary, curious and bold. Looking back now, NC State did not just meet my expectations. It blew past them. I grew academically, professionally and personally in ways I could not have predicted. This campus became the place where I learned who I am and who I want to become. 

Is there anything that surprised you over your years at NC State?

Yes. What surprised me most was how many identities you can hold at once here. NC State is the kind of place where you can be an engineer, a researcher, an entrepreneur, a dancer, a teaching assistant, a policy advocate, a community organizer, a panel host and a leader all within the same four years. I never felt boxed in. Instead, every passion I pursued created pathways into something new.

Another surprise was how deeply mentors invested in me. Professors like Dr. Dubljević and Dr. Lobaton brought me into research spaces long before I felt ready. They trusted me with meaningful work and treated my ideas seriously. Their belief in me built my confidence. Program directors encouraged me to apply for things I never thought I could be a part of: national conferences, leadership cohorts, panel series and interdisciplinary projects that pushed me intellectually. 

I was also surprised by how much I grew when pushed outside my comfort zone. NC State placed me in rooms and situations I never imagined myself in: moderating panels with national experts, representing the university to industry partners, leading discussions on ethics and AI, and engaging with congressional staff in Washington. Each experience revealed something different about what I am capable of. 

Did you have a favorite class or area of study?  

Human-robot interaction and embodied AI became the center of my academic world. I also found myself drawn deeply to Philosophy. My ethics and cognitive science courses added a dimension to engineering that I did not expect. They taught me about responsibility, trust in autonomous systems, fairness and the narratives that shape public attitudes toward technology. Philosophy grounded my technical work in something larger and made me more thoughtful and intentional in everything I built. 

Together, ECE and Philosophy taught me that true engineering lives at the intersection of precision and empathy. 

What activities outside of your classes did you get involved in at NC State/in the Raleigh area, and why did you pursue those opportunities? 

I joined programs that made me think, feel, stretch, and grow. NC State is full of opportunities, and I followed the ones that sparked curiosity in me. 

• Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP): GCSP gave me a framework for what it means to be an engineer in a global context. Through its five pillars, I learned to connect research, ethics, entrepreneurship, multicultural awareness and public engagement. GCSP became the place where my interdisciplinary instincts made sense. National conferences and conversations with deans and leaders helped me refine my thinking about AI ethics, leadership and societal responsibility. GCSP showed me that engineering can be a force for equity and uplift. 
• Social Innovation Fellows (SIF): SIF took me into real-world systems. Working on the 2024 North Carolina Blue Economy Report taught me to collaborate across environmental science, policy, education and engineering. I interviewed researchers, nonprofits and community organizations. I helped design the Oceans of Opportunity webinar series, which connected experts across marine conservation, sustainability, innovation and K-12 education. SIF taught me about interconnected problems, ambiguity and solutions that must work for people on the ground.
• Oaks Leadership Scholars: Oaks taught me that leadership is rooted in justice, empathy and community. Through weekly discussions and reflective work, I learned to identify inequities, listen more deeply and translate values into action. My direct action project on inclusive AI ethics conversations directly inspired the national panel series I later created. My funded trip to Washington to meet congressional staff opened my eyes to AI governance and policy. Oaks changed the way I understand leadership because it taught me to center people first. 
• Women in ECE (WiECE): WiECE gave me community. As Corporate Relations Chair, I helped organize events with companies, build partnerships and support the career development of women and minority students. WiECE reminded me that representation matters in technical fields. It also gave me friendships, mentorship and a sense of belonging. 
• Research: Research is where I discovered my passion. My first project in the NeuroComputational Ethics Group introduced me to moral philosophy and the public narratives around autonomous systems. Later, my work in the ARoS Lab challenged me technically and intellectually. The Pepper study with older adults was transformative. Watching participants instinctively adjust their communication to help a robot understand made me realize the weight of responsibility in designing social systems. Research taught me how to think, how to question deeply and how to design responsibly. 
• Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship unlocked a different side of me. I participated in the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program, the VenturePack Challenge and multiple immersion trips. Meeting founders, angel investors and alumni in New York and Silicon Valley changed how I think about my future. I filled journals with insights about leadership, confidence and the discipline required to build something meaningful. One of my favorite memories is discovering the EEP pre-req as a freshman and immediately signing up because nothing was stopping me. Only later did I realize it was meant for juniors. It still makes me laugh, but it says everything about who I am. When something excites me, I run toward it. And those instincts shaped some of the best experiences I have had at NC State. 

Each of these activities taught me something different: how to collaborate, how to lead, how to think across systems, how to build ethically, how to design for people and how to trust my voice. 

What advice would you give to other students considering attending NC State’s ECE program?

Do not box yourself into one version of who you think you should be. ECE is enormous. It opens doors into robotics, signals, embedded systems, AI, communications, hardware security, research, entrepreneurship and more. The key is curiosity. Talk to professors. Visit labs. Try things before you feel ready. Ask for help. Allow yourself to grow in many directions. You do not need your entire future figured out on your first day. You just need to keep showing up with intention. NC State will meet you with opportunities you never imagined. 

What’s next for you? 

I have applied to pursue a Ph.D. in embodied AI and human-robot interaction. I want to create intelligent systems that understand people, support them and adapt to their real-world needs. My goal is to integrate robotics, language, perception, ethics and emotion into systems that serve older adults, caregivers and communities that benefit from accessible, culturally grounded AI. 

How do you plan to celebrate your graduation? 

I want to celebrate this moment with my family because they have carried me through every challenge, every opportunity and every late-night sprint. I want to take a day to pause, breathe and actually absorb what this chapter has meant for me. I will probably dance a little, meditate and definitely keep up with my fitness routine that I have stayed consistent with, even through finals and Ph.D. applications. 

I also want to reconnect with all the friends, mentors and people I promised I would talk to “after December 13th.” There are so many calls and catch-ups I owe, and I want to celebrate by closing that loop with gratitude. After that, I hope to spend some time traveling, exploring new ideas and finally getting to a few side projects I have been excited about but placed on hold. 

Overall, I want to celebrate in a way that feels grounding, joyful and intentional. A chance to step into 2026 and the next chapter with clarity and renewed energy.